


somewhere, right now, are you feeling it too

by frinkles



Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Magical Realism, Merpeople, Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life, i guess? but also
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25675249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frinkles/pseuds/frinkles
Summary: Dejun is house sitting, Hendery is half fish, and dungarees and summer heat look really good on Yukhei.
Relationships: Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun, Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun, Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun
Comments: 26
Kudos: 119





	somewhere, right now, are you feeling it too

There's a boy in his pond.

Dejun blinks, and steps backward into the conservatory, hiding himself from view. He can still see it though, through the green of the cycads and the red of the hibiscus. Naked shoulders and dark wavy hair and slim arms leaning over the deck. There's a _boy_ in his _pond_.

And it's not even Dejun's pond. It's his parents', only his for the summer. His responsibility, just like the rest of the house. And he's not even a week in, and things are already going wrong.

He wonders if he should contact his parents. His dad told him to call only in emergencies, but this seems like it might be one. This part of the garden is only accessible through the house, or by climbing the neighbour's fence. There shouldn't be anyone taking a swim in their pond at seven in the morning on a Saturday. Or not at any time on any day, actually.

Maybe it's one of the neighbourhood kids. Dejun moves and carefully sits down on one of the low rattan chairs, eyes still on the uninvited visitor. Maybe the guy went out last night, and got drunk, and decided he needed a swim, and somehow ended up here. You know, that kind of thing could happen when you’re drunk.

Dejun sighs, and rests his head on his rolled-up yoga mat. He's not prepared to deal with this at all. Definitely not this early in the morning. He just wanted to do some stretching to wake up, and enjoy the weather now that the heat isn't unbearable yet. Not having to remove some shirtless stranger from his parents' pond.

Well, at least the guy didn't drown. At least he looks alive and awake. Finding a _dead_ boy the pond would've undoubtedly been worse.

He's still there, now framed by the wisteria dangling from the pergola, and seemingly without any intention of leaving. He's toying with some twigs, his long hair completely obscuring his face. But Dejun doesn't think he would've been able to recognise him anyway. He doesn't really know who lives around here nowadays.

The stranger doesn’t get more familiar as Dejun studies him. God, why did it have to be exactly _this_ garden. But maybe, Dejun realises, maybe Yukhei the garden boy knows him. He should be coming over in a few hours, maybe Dejun could ask him if he can get here a bit earlier. He can leave earlier as well, of course.

That sounds like a good idea. Dejun leaves his yoga mat in the conservatory and heads to the kitchen, where his parents stuck notes with important information to the fridge. Yukhei's schedule and phone number is amongst them, as his mom showed him before they left, right in the middle on a pretty, pastel purple post-it note.

When Dejun was still young, when he still lived here permanently, Yukhei's uncle used to do the garden. He would bring Yukhei along sometimes, and Yukhei and Dejun would play together. And Yukhei played too rough, always wanted to go outside, couldn't sit still long enough to watch the movies Dejun wanted to see, but Dejun remembers following Yukhei anyway. Yukhei's broad smiles and enthusiastic words were always really good at convincing him.

But that was when they were kids, and now they're adults, and goddamn, Yukhei grew up so well. Those were things Dejun wasn't thinking about at all when he was eight years old, but now it's pretty much unavoidable.

Dejun saw him last weekend, before his parents left. From the safety of his bedroom balcony because he thought it would be awkward to meet again, their lives undoubtedly having grown apart. He saw Yukhei, and he couldn’t help but just watch him, sipping the matcha mojito he made earlier and admiring Yukhei's strong arms as he pulled weeds from between the flower bed, the book Dejun was supposed to read long forgotten.

When Yukhei spotted him and waved excitedly, trying to start a conversation by shouting at him, Dejun realised they maybe hadn’t really changed much at all.

Dejun came down so they could talk easier, and even grabbed a spade in an attempt to help Yukhei, because it felt too uncomfortable to just sit and watch now that Yukhei was aware of him, even though Yukhei ensured him it was fine because he was getting paid for it. They caught up a bit, so easily and casually that Dejun wondered why he even worried about meeting Yukhei again.

And then Yukhei stepped into the sprinklers like a fucking dog, because it was _too hot_ , he said, soaking his white T-shirt thoroughly, and Dejun was forcefully reminded of how goddamn well Yukhei really grew up. He worried that it would make new problems arise in their rekindled friendship, but Yukhei insisted he just sat back and watched, and maybe, maybe it wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Dejun was looking forward to seeing him again today, to just shuffle around him a bit in the garden, prepare some drinks for him, maybe a virgin version of one of the cocktail recipes Kun taught him, if Yukhei would like that, and mostly to just watch Yukhei do whatever he needs to do this week. And hopefully see him do another wet T-shirt stunt. That was his plan at least, but now some guy in the pond is throwing salt in his game.

He decides on sending Yukhei a message—Yukhei might still be asleep—and adds his contact information in WeChat. Yukhei's profile picture is one where he's shirtless, and Dejun zooms in on it to confirm it's really him, but unfortunately it's too low res for him to really see anything.

Yukhei must've been awake already, because he replies really quickly, saying that he can come over right now if Dejun wants. Which Dejun would really want. He looks over his shoulder, peeking around the corner and looking through the big windows, and sees a flash of skin between the foliage. Yeah, Yukhei really needs to come over.

Before Yukhei arrives, he said it would be around ten minutes, Dejun quickly prepares. He changes into some nice shorts and a sleeveless shirt (because he works out too, goddamnit, just because it's not as obvious on his frame, doesn't mean the muscle isn't there!), turns on the coffee machine so he can thank Yukhei for his flexibility with a nice Italian espresso (and he can have some himself too) and runs back upstairs for his lip balm.

He should really unpack them from his toiletry bag and leave one of them downstairs, it would be so much more convenient, with how often he reaches for it. And he's just doing it because it's a habit, because he doesn't like it when his lips are dry and wrinkly. It's not like he's doing it for Yukhei.

The perfume he sprays is also not specifically for Yukhei, that too is just a habit. He just feels like it's common courtesy, to make sure you smell good around other people. But if Yukhei likes it, of course, that would only be a plus.

Smelling nice and feeling a little bit more prepared to see Yukhei, Dejun hurries back downstairs and sits down at the bar in the kitchen to wait.

The doorbell in this house is so ridiculously loud. His parents wanted something that they could here throughout the whole house, and Dejun guesses they got exactly what they wanted, but it makes him nearly fall from his stool. He quickly cleans his spilled coffee off the bar surface, and rushes to the front door to let Yukhei in.

Yukhei greets him with a bright grin, exuding energy no matter what time of day. The hat he's wearing skims the top of Dejun's head when he leans in for a one-armed hug that takes Dejun by surprise but still ends way too quickly, and Dejun remembers just how much taller than him Yukhei is. "Hey, good morning!"

"Yeah, good morning, uh—” Dejun needs a quick moment to process the way Yukhei's broad chest felt against his shoulder. “Yeah. Thank you so much for being able to come over a bit earlier." He steps back and makes some kind of arm movements for Yukhei to follow him, hoping he gets it.

"No problem at all, man! At least now it's not too hot yet!"

"Ah, yeah, that's right, uh. Look. There's a bit of a problem?" Dejun turns to Yukhei when they're in the kitchen, and Yukhei stares back with wide eyes, eyebrows going up.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"There's—well, there's a guy in the pond?"

"In the _pond_?" Yukhei leans forward over the bar, his brow furrowed, like he thinks he might've misheard Dejun. Unfortunately he didn't.

"Yeah, in the pond, behind the conservatory. There's a guy. In it. I thought, I thought maybe he's like, from around here, maybe you know him, so, um—could you ask him to leave?"

"There's a guy in the pond," Yukhei repeats again, like he still doesn't understand. "Like, just swimming there?"

"Yeah, I guess? I can show you, I think he's still there, I mean, haven't seen him here yet..."

"How did he even _get_ there?" Yukhei turns around and heads to the conservatory, not needing Dejun to guide him there. "That makes no sense at all. I'll get him out of there, don't worry!"

Dejun follows him towards the garden doors but stays behind in the living room, watching through the big windows and the dense leaves as Yukhei's denim clad shape makes its way down the path. He regrets asking Yukhei to do it now, he should've just done it himself. Now it's so awkward. What's Yukhei gonna say, the house owners' son asked me to ask you to leave? And then the guy will have to leave _through_ the house, and he would see Dejun anyway, and it will be so awkward. Maybe he should've just called the police instead.

Yukhei takes long and Dejun turns away from the windows because watching makes his skin feel too crawly. He’s pointlessly straightening the coffee table books on the coffee table, when he hears someone come back inside. It's Yukhei, thank god, but his expression doesn't allow Dejun to relax just yet.

"Uh, Dejun?" Yukhei starts, hesitant, but also strangely eager. "You might wanna come outside. For real," he adds when Dejun doesn't move, "you might wanna see this."

He goes ahead, Dejun following him through the conservatory, around the discarded yoga mat, through the open doors and over the dark, flat rocks that lead to the pond. The guy is still in it, now turned around and staring straight at them, his hair pushed to the sides of his face.

"Hello," he says to Dejun, a smile that's more like a grimace appearing on his face. At least he has the decency to look like he finds it awkward, too.

"Uh—" Dejun turns to Yukhei for help, but Yukhei has his big eyes fixated on the boy in the pond. The boy who's very handsome, Dejun notices when he turns back to him. But also still a trespasser, an intruder. A burglar, even, perhaps. "Why are you here?"

Now Yukhei speaks up. "Show him," he says with an impatient smile, and Dejun is getting more confused. He waits anxiously, and then nearly falls backwards when suddenly a massive fish tail breaks the water surface.

" _Holy_ —what _is_ that!" His dad kept koi in the pond once, but Dejun thought they had all died. He didn't know they had mutated into some massive, silver-green pond monster.

"That's me," the boy says, oddly calm for someone who's sharing such a small, confined space with whatever the fuck that was, and, wait—

Dejun whips his head around to Yukhei, who turns back to him with sparkling eyes and a wide grin. "Isn't that so cool? He's a _mermaid_!"

"Hey, I'm a mer _man_!" the guy in the pond replies, his tail fin flipping out of the water again, and Dejun really needs to sit down for a moment.

"You're a merman," he mumbles after he's made it down safely, now cross-legged on the ribbed wood of the deck. Yukhei sat down next to him, coming down on much steadier legs. "You're seriously a merman?"

"Yeah, kinda." The supposed merman shrugs, and does that toothy, not-quite-smile thing again. "I mean, not kinda, I _am_."

"Dude that's so cool!" Yukhei leans forward on his hands. "This is my first time meeting a mermaid! Sorry, mer _man_."

Dejun doesn't understand how Yukhei can just accept the fact that there's a _merman in the pond_. The fish tail splashes up again, and Yukhei cheers, and Dejun just doesn't _understand_.

"Are you guys messing with me," he asks weakly. "Like, is this a prank?"

"It's not a prank, bro," the guy in the pond replies solemnly. "I'm really half fish."

"I don't believe you. Show me, show me the part where you turn into fish."

"Dude, Dejun," Yukhei hisses, "You can't just—you can't just _ask_ —what if that's private?"

"Oh, it's fine," the merman guy says, setting his hands flat on the deck and pushing himself up until silvery scales appear around his waistline, forming an actual fish body tail thing. "Come on, touch it, if you want," he adds, and Dejun does, touching cool skin and smooth scales and not feeling any kind of edge or ridge or proof that it's fake. And Dejun needs to sit back for a while again.

Yukhei leans in to touch, too, muttering an awed " _wow_ ", his eyes round, and Dejun sees the merman smile in a much more genuine way than he did before, actually giggling a little now. Which is to be expected, when you've got someone like Yukhei leaning in close to you and stroking his big hands all over your body. Dejun is definitely not jealous, though. He's very happy to be a normal, non-fish human.

"Where did you come from?" Dejun asks when the merman has sunk most of his body into the pond again. There's no way he's been living in this pond all this time, no way no one would've noticed. And what would he even survive from? Water lettuce? And the space is way too small. Unless if his parents have been keeping him captive here, without telling Dejun about it? They wouldn't have done that, would they?

"I came from the sea," the merman answers, and Dejun nods in understanding, because that makes much more sense.

It must not make sense to Yukhei, because he suddenly gasps. "But this is fresh water!"

"I can adapt! What do you think I am, some kind of simple marine fish?"

The merman sounds offended, and in return Dejun gets offended on Yukhei's behalf. "Well, yeah? You're _at least_ half fish, you said so yourself! Probably even more than half!"

“But I’m not reliant on salt! I’m way more than that!”

"Hey, hey, don't fight!" Yukhei stretches out his arms between them, as if they were actually about to get into a fight. "We just, we don't really know anything about mermaids, you know? So you can like, live in both salt and freshwater? Wow, that's so cool. Kinda like salmons? Is it true that mermaid tears are pearls? Hey, what's your name? Do mermaids have names?"

The merman's name is Hendery, he tells them, which is his human name and not his mermaid name, because you can't talk under water the way people do on land. He's actually a pretty normal guy, Dejun realises when he starts to get a little more used to the fact that he's _half fish_. Very friendly, and also funny. And like most merpeople in fiction, he's really good looking too. It's kind of funny how he looks more like prince Eric than Ariel, but when Dejun tells him that, Hendery doesn't understand.

"There's a tv inside," Dejun says, "I can show you the movie. Have you ever seen a movie?"

"Oh... I need to keep my tail wet." Hendery gestures at the water around him.

"Ah, yeah, that would be a bit of a problem..." Dejun doesn't think his parents would appreciate it very much if he turned on all the taps and let the floor flood. 

He turns back to the patio, where Yukhei is busy tending the crabapple trees, because, "your parents are paying me, I can't just sit around and do nothing!" or so he said, and, to Hendery, "you're staying here, right? We can talk more later, right?"

"I can't exactly swim away," Hendery had told him, and Yukhei's beaming smile was very beautiful.

So now Dejun is sitting here, on a garden chair he dragged onto the dock, just lazing in the shade, with an actual, real merman next to him. And he’s actually come to terms with it, because Hendery is pretty nice company, and this way he can still spend his day looking at Yukhei.

Yukhei is wearing dungarees today, full length heavy denim dungarees with the straps up over another white T-shirt. Or perhaps the same one as last week. Dejun sips the iced coffee he made when he remembered he was going to treat Yukhei (he’s made three tall glasses, one for himself, one for Yukhei, and one for Hendery, because apparently mermen drink coffee too), and watches as Yukhei kneels down on the terrace tiles. The pant length makes sense now, but he must be so insanely hot with this weather. It's already warm here in the shade, and the only shade Yukhei has is from the straw hat on his head.

"Does he always do that?" Hendery asks, and Dejun turns to him. Hendery is watching Yukhei just like Dejun is.

"Just once a week. It’s just a sideline."

Hendery hums, eyes not leaving Yukhei. "He's hot."

"Uh—yeah, he must be, with this weather..." Dejun trails off when he sees Hendery's face and realises that's probably not what he meant, although merpeople also having telepathic empath abilities wouldn't have surprised him. Hendery glances at him, though, lifting his eyebrows just slightly, and Dejun swears he can feel the moment of mutual understanding by just making eye contact. Maybe mermen have telepathic abilities after all.

They turn back to Yukhei, who's now got his hat off, his hand pushing back his hair, his skin glowing in the sun, and Dejun sighs wistfully. "Yeah, he is."

Hendery asks him if all humans are like Yukhei, which is a bit of a stupid question, because Dejun is literally sitting right here, what does Hendery think _he_ is, but Dejun can't even be mad, because this is _Yukhei_ they're talking about. 

"He's a very fine specimen," Dejun tells him. Yukhei has put his hat back on, and is now doing something that requires pulling down heavy branches, his biceps bulging, his forearms veiny, even visible from here. There's a concentrated frown on his face and his lips are pouted and Dejun could just look at him all day.

"I'm a fine specimen, too," Hendery replies.

Dejun turns to observe Hendery's face again. He's definitely handsome, the sun falling through the leaves painting gold on his olive skin, over his cheekbones and his nose bridge and casting his dark eyes eyes in shadows. "I guess you do look fine. But I mean, like—I don't know about your fish parts..."

"Oh trust me, my fish half is also very fine." Hendery grins, and winks at him, and Dejun finds it very uncomfortable to be talking about fish like this.

"Um, alright then..." He waits for a few seconds, during which Hendery's eyes automatically go back to the patio like this is the end of their conversation. Maybe Hendery isn’t very well-versed in social norms of humans, but it’s only common courtesy to return a compliment, no? "Are you not gonna tell me I'm fine too?"

Hendery looks at him, scrutinising him. There must be something wrong with his merman eyes, because he's taking way too long to admit that Dejun is good looking too, and Dejun is starting to feel a little annoyed. "You have a lot of eyebrow," Hendery settles on, and Dejun frowns at him. "Yeah, especially now."

"Yukhei has eyebrows too! Why won't you just say I'm handsome! Here, look at the rest of me." Dejun twists his upper body and flexes his arm for Hendery, glad he wore the sleeveless top. When Hendery's eyes flit to Yukhei and back, Dejun flexes even harder, even though deep down he knows it’s not comparable. He won’t allow it to get to him.

Hendery opens his mouth to say something, but doesn't continue, his gaze returning to Yukhei and eyes going wide. "Oh shit, look at that."

Dejun looks over too, just in time to see Yukhei pull his T-shirt over his head, leaving him half-naked, tan skin and abs and pecs and cute tiny nipples on display, and indeed a tattoo on his ribs, as Dejun thought he could see under his wet T-shirt last week. He shakes his messy hair out of his face, running both his hands through it while he has his head tilted back, and maybe Dejun forgets to breathe for a second. "Oh, fuck me," he mutters in a daze.

He didn't even mean it literally, it’s just an interjection (although he wouldn't refuse, obviously) but he hears an empathetic “yeah” from the pond.

Yukhei puts his hat back on, and, unfortunately, also lifts the straps of his dungarees over his shoulders again, toned abdomen disappearing from view. He looks up then, seeming to realise something, and turns towards Dejun and Hendery’s spot, barely even reacting when he finds them already staring at him. "Dejun, do you have any sunscreen?"

A bit embarrassed about being caught, even though Yukhei pretty much said it was okay for him to watch, Dejun jumps up from his chair. "Of course! Let me just go grab it. Come on, come over here, have your coffee! Before it turns warm..." He waits for Yukhei to reach the pond to personally hand him his coffee, quickly letting his eyes roam over Yukhei's body and ushering him to sit down next to Hendery, so Hendery can have a look, too. "I'll be right back."

Yukhei is animatedly talking with Hendery when Dejun returns, half finished coffee in his hand and his hat on the ground. When he looks up at Dejun, Dejun can see the sweat beading on his forehead where his hair is messily pushed away, running down his temples and neck. He probably should've gotten Yukhei a glass of water too. Or like, a handkerchief to wipe his face.

"Thank you so much, man! My neck got kind of burned last time." Yukhei lifts his free hand to reach for the sunscreen Dejun had been holding out for him, but before he can grab it, Dejun gets a really good idea, and pulls his hand back.

"Wait, let me do your back for you! Wouldn't want you to miss any spots." It's not like it's a _lie_ , he really wouldn't want that. He'll make sure every inch of Yukhei's skin is coated in spf.

"Oh, thanks! That’s always so hard to reach!" Yukhei smiles gratefully and turns around, letting the denim straps fall to his elbows and exposing his whole back. Dejun wants to start, but the sunscreen gets stolen away by a wet hand.

"I'll help, too!" Hendery has lifted most of his upper body from the water, leaning in so he, too, can put his hands all over Yukhei's back. Dejun helps and turns Yukhei a bit so Hendery can reach better, because he understands, this is not an opportunity they can just let go.

Together they take care of Yukhei's back, one half each. Dejun rubs his hand in circular motions over his trapezius, over the jut of his shoulder bones, along the side of his spine, reaching around over his ribs, Yukhei's skin warm under his hand, his body firm.

The sunscreen gives him an extra slick shine, and Dejun feels like he’s oiling him up. God, he wishes he could do this every day. If he could, if it would be a sustainable option, he would quit uni, and just spend all his days glazing Yukhei's body. He’s probably going over everything twice or even three times, but he’s just making sure he’s not missing a single spot. Hendery seems to be doing the same, taking just as long, if not longer, as Dejun.

When they tell Yukhei they're done, he turns to them with a bright grin. "Wow, thanks guys! I could just feel that you were doing a very thorough job." He sounds completely sincere, apparently unaware that Dejun and Hendery definitely didn't need to take that long, and Dejun is maybe feeling a tad bit guilty.

Yukhei reaches for the bottle of sunscreen, but Dejun is faster. He’s not feeling _that_ guilty yet. "Oh, we can do your arms as well, that's fine! You've worked so hard, you deserve a break."

Yukhei just lets them, doesn't ask any questions. Dejun can't believe his luck. He lets them both take one of his arms, and Dejun drops some sunscreen on Hendery's waiting palm. Hendery is even bolder than Dejun is, not even trying to be subtle as he runs his hands up and down Yukhei's bicep, squeezing it. "Wow," he praises, and Dejun sees the way Yukhei's face lights up.

"You guys like this?" Yukhei twists his elbows out and flexes in a ridiculous body builder pose, but it makes his muscles stand out really well, and yeah, Dejun definitely likes this. Hendery too, he's pretty sure.

"You're really strong," Dejun tells him, hand automatically reaching out to touch Yukhei's flexed upper arm. Because that's what Yukhei is wordlessly asking him to do, right? It's definitely very inviting. His biceps are really hard, not budging under Dejun’s fingers at all. It must’ve taken so much effort to get like this.

"Have you guys been watching me work?" Yukhei asks, almost eagerly, like he's asking for confirmation, rather than out of curiosity. His eyes are sparkling, his smile wide. "Some stuff is pretty heavy, my uncle can't do it anymore, or at least, he shouldn't, but I'm still young and fit."

"Of course we've been watching you, what else did you think we were doing?" Hendery has stretched out an arm to feel Yukhei's gains too.

"It's very nice to see," Dejun adds. His fingertips are still lingering on Yukhei's arm, skin a little sticky with the sunscreen. But Yukhei doesn't seem to mind, so why should he let go.

"Nice," Yukhei says with a grin. "Wait, Dejun—" He hesitates, mouth still in the shape of a smile. "Are you—are you, like, gay?"

Dejun feels himself immediately getting defensive. "Does it matter?" It comes out a bit harsher than Yukhei probably deserves.

"No!" Yukhei replies right away, taking his arms from Dejun and Hendery's hold just to raise his hands appeasingly. He chuckles a little awkwardly. "No, of course not! That’s, like, totally fine. I’m very accepting!"

Dejun relaxes again. He didn't think Yukhei would make it into an issue, but then again, he also didn't think Yukhei would still have to ask. He thought for sure everyone in this neighbourhood would've known by now.

"Hey, are you not gonna ask me?" Hendery chips in.

Dejun turns to him, bewildered. "You're—you’re a fish!"

"I'm half human! But hey, fish can be gay too!"

"Oh, yeah, I knew!" Yukhei adds. "I had a betta and he was male, but he was like, pink and all sparkly."

"Sexy," Hendery says, and Dejun will have to let Yukhei's assuming based on obsolete stereotypes slide because what the _fuck_. Hendery just smiles at them, completely casual.

"Wait, are you for real?" Yukhei sounds equally confused.

"You... Your species mates with betta fish!?"

Hendery manages to keep a straight face for a few more seconds before he starts laughing. "No, of course not! What the hell!" He gets Yukhei to laugh too, really loudly, slapping Hendery's shoulder (a bit too forcefully, by the sound of it), but Dejun doesn't think it's very funny because his brain actually started trying to come up with ways merman/betta mating would work and that’s _fucked up_.

"So," Yukhei starts when he's calmed down, "You guys really, like... You like looking at me? For real?" He starts giggling again as he speaks, like he can't believe men would think he's hot, too, even though he clearly knows he's hot.

"Yeah, we do," Hendery says, and Dejun nods. He can’t really be embarrassed when Yukhei clearly doesn’t mind.

"Damn..." Yukhei looks at the both of them, and giggles again. "Well, you can look all you want! I'm all yours! Like, your eyes'... Although I have to mow the grass now, so I won't be using my muscles very much..."

Dejun makes a quick trip to the kitchen to get a carafe with water and fresh mint, filling half of it with ice cubes first, and makes Yukhei come back to the little spot they've got set up next to the pond to make sure he stays hydrated. Yukhei drains a whole—admittedly, small—glass in one go, a single drop escaping from the corner of his mouth and running down the long line of his neck. When he brings his head down, he thanks Dejun with a bright grin, and Dejun wonders if Yukhei knows that _everything_ he does is really hot.

With Yukhei climbing back on the lawn mower, Dejun settles himself in his sunlounger again. The sun is almost at her highest point now, piercing straight through the canopy, making the dark water of the pond sparkle and the serving tray Dejun brought with him gleam blindingly.

Dejun pushes his hair away from his sweaty forehead. He should make some lunch soon, but he doesn't really want to put in any effort, the heat making him lazy. He can't really let the other two go unfed though, not in his own house.

He turns to Hendery. "So, what does your kind usually eat?”

It turns out that in the ocean, merpeople eat a lot of fish. Which is something Dejun could've guessed himself, actually. There’s plenty of options species-wise, Hendery tells him, but the problem lies mostly with preparing it. “Although it’s not really that much of a problem, I can digest raw fish or seaweed just fine. But I’m pretty sure I should be able to digest all human food too.”

Yukhei joins them when he’s done with the lawn, and gratefully accepts Dejun’s offer of lunch. “But don’t expect too much, though,” Dejun tries to temper the expectations, “I think I’ll just toss some stuff together in a salad.”

“Oh that’s fine, anything is totally fine with me! Really, I should’ve brought my own lunchbox, but I just forgot. I’ll help you with it, if you need any help!”

And maybe Hendery is more familiar with human things than Dejun thought, because he turns to Yukhei all innocently, and says: “You wanna help Dejun get his salad tossed?”

Yukhei half-chokes on a loud giggle, his eyes going round. “Oh my god.”

“I just meant food! Lettuce!” Dejun sends Hendery a look, because even though either way would probably be fine, he’s not here to make Yukhei uncomfortable.

“No, no, I got that, it’s okay.” Yukhei calms down a bit, and continues. “Is that true, though? Do you guys, like—do you do that?” Dejun stares at Yukhei in surprise, and maybe accidentally makes it look a little scary because Yukhei starts giggling nervously again. “Oh my god, I’m sorry. Should I not ask that? I probably shouldn’t, right, oh my god. You know what, I don’t even want to know.”

“I never get my salad tossed,” Dejun answers honestly, ignoring Yukhei's rambling. It sounds way more sad than it was supposed to, but whatever, it _is_ sad.

“Oh, why not?” comes Yukhei's compassionate reply. Dejun appreciates that he sounds so sad about it too.

“I don’t know, just never meet anyone nice.” Dejun says it while looking at Yukhei, and about halfway through he realises how that might come across. He doesn’t mean anything with it though, it’s just the truth. “It just takes like, a personal connection, some level of trust to let someone that close down there, you see? For me, at least…”

“Oh, yeah, no, I get it!” Yukhei nods understandingly. “Totally. I wouldn’t let anyone with their face near my butthole! I mean, I guess—” He pauses, like he’s actually thinking about it. “No…” he eventually settles on shaking his head. Then he turns to Hendery, continuing even though he said he shouldn’t talk about it. “What about you? Ever get your salad tossed?

Dejun looks to his side, and sees Hendery stare at Yukhei impassively. “My bottom half is fish.”

The heat is starting to get unbearable, even in the shade. Dejun tries to flutter his tank top, creating a breeze under the fabric, but it barely helps. He really hopes he's not getting too sweaty. He can still smell the wood sage of the perfume he used earlier, but only faintly.

Yukhei must still be really hot, too. When they finish their lunch, he starts taking even more clothes off. This time it’s just his shoes and his clearly damp nike socks, though. Dejun is kind of disgusted with himself when he realises he doesn’t even think it’s gross. He looks at Yukhei's long, bony feet, and at his deft fingers and veiny hands working to roll up his jeans, and swallows thickly. God, how did he get it this bad. But Yukhei's hands are so _big_.

Yukhei hovers his feet over the pond. “Do you mind?”

“Go ahead, Hendery says, moving a little to the side to make room, and Yukhei lowers his feet into the water.

“Oh, damn, this is lukewarm! It’s not even cold!” Yukhei slumps backwards with a disappointed sigh, and Dejun watches. It feels bad, having his guests be outside and suffering, when the AC inside works perfectly fine.

Dejun takes a look at the merman next to him, and starts thinking. Hendery needs to keep his tail wet, but it’s not like they have no other options. "Yukhei," he starts, "you're very strong, right?

"Yeah!" Yukhei flexes in his horizontal position, beaming.

"And Hendery—" Hendery turns to Dejun with an expectant smile. "You—it's not like you need to stay _outside_ , right? You can be inside as long as there's water?"

"Yeah, I don't think that matters much."

"So. There's a big bathtub in the downstairs bathroom."

Yukhei is indeed strong enough to carry Hendery, holding him bridal style, Hendery's arms wrapped around his neck, the ends of his long tail flopping around. Hendery’s giggle is squeaky when Yukhei hoists him up even closer to his chest, assuring that he’s absolutely able to carry Hendery, even if he's clearly having a hard time. Dejun wonders if he could fake spraining his ankle and have Yukhei carry him inside, too.

Now is not the right time to try that, though. He guides Yukhei to the bathroom and turns on the tap, and then quickly grabs a towel to clean up the trail of water Hendery's tail left behind.

When he returns to the bathroom, where the tiles are delightfully cool under his bare feet, Hendery is already in the tub. Yukhei is kneeling on the steps next to it, splashing the water from the faucet on Hendery's scales and diffusing it with his palms. Dejun joins him and helps, until the tub has filled all the way up.

“Dude, Dejun.” Yukhei sits back and looks around. “This bathroom is so nice!”

“Is it?” Dejun follows Yukhei's gaze. He always thought the inset bath was a bit tacky, but maybe the dark granite looks kind of nice. “I don’t know, I never really bathe here… You’ve never seen this before?”

“I only do the garden! I can’t just—I can’t just roam around the house!”

“I think it’s nice, too,” Hendery says. "Much nicer than the pond outside." He slides down until he's completely submerged and sits up again, pushing his wet hair from his face with a contented sigh. "Honestly, the pond water is pretty stale and dirty... Thank you so much for allowing me in here."

"You'll have to help rinse off the bathtub later, though." Dejun looks at all the dirt and algae and water lentils and whatever else must've been in the pond, now floating around in the clear bathwater. He reaches a hand down to wipe some slimy, brown-green stuff from Hendery's tail.

Yukhei laughs, his arms sliding down over the edge of the tub. "Sorry, that was probably my job. I don't think I've ever cleaned it…”

“No, no, it needs a filter,” Dejun repeats what he’s heard his dad talk about before, pretending to have any knowledge of garden ponds. “It’s not your fault.” To Hendery, he says “sorry 'bout that," but he trails off when he starts realising something. "Wait a minute.” All this time he’s just been hanging out with Hendery in his garden like it’s a completely ordinary thing. “Why am I apologising for the state of the pond, you shouldn't even be in it! How did you even get there!"

"Uh..." Hendery smiles awkwardly, his hand coming up to scratch his neck. "So, the thing is. I get legs during the full moon?"

Dejun certainly wasn't expecting that answer. He gapes at Hendery. "You get _what_?"

"Legs? You know? You've got them too?"

"Oh my god!" Yukhei's voice grows loud with excitement. "Dude, you're, like, a werewolf merman? A were-merman..." He sounds equal parts shocked and excited, and Dejun just feels confusion, but then again, if mermaids are gonna be real, why not let them be were-creatures too...

"Actually," Hendery continues, unfazed, "'were' means 'man', so I'd be more like a were-fish?"

Dejun still hasn’t got the answers he wanted. Actually, he’s only got more questions now. "But how did you get to the garden! Don't tell me you get wings, too..."

"Well..." Hendery grins all his teeth bare, his eyebrows making a funny move, and Dejun doesn't like how Hendery isn’t answering him straight away.

" _No_... You don't..." A were-fish turning into a were-bird with the full moon is really too much.

"You can fly? _Seriously_?" Yukhei looks like he hopes it's actually true and Hendery laughs at him.

"No, I can't fly, unfortunately..." He pushes some stray strands of hair away from his forehead and Dejun is distracted for one second by how good that makes him look. Only one second though, he can't be getting distracted right now. "Okay, this is what happened... So, I was out on my legs, right? And I wanted to get back to the sea, I have to before the sun rises, but I kind of. Well, I miscalculated? I forgot it's summer and the nights are short, and the sun started to rise and I had to find water, immediately. Because when I get my tail back, I can't walk, right? And my body can kind of sense where the nearest body of water is. Which happened to be here. And so I picked your lock and broke into your house so I could get to your pond."

He says the last part really quickly, but Dejun understood everything very well. "You—you _picked my lock_?"

"Dude, Dejun," Yukhei whines. "He's sharing all these amazing, supernatural merman things, and _that's_ what you focus on?"

"He picked the locks! I _knew_ —I knew something wasn't right, I knew he couldn't just have appeared there out of nowhere!" Dejun sends Hendery an accusing look, making sure to frown his eyebrows extra darkly.

"But I locked the doors again after I went through them!” Hendery is looking pretty embarrassed now, and to be fair, he really did do that. Dejun remembers unlocking the garden doors of the conservatory this morning. Maybe he should cut him some slack, it's not Hendery's fault he's like this. Presumably. This can’t really be compared to a regular burglary situation. “ And don't, like—don't worry about your safety, the locks here are really hard to pick... What my merman hands can do, is not what regular human hands can."

"I can't believe a merman broke into my house..." There's no way his parents are gonna believe any of this. If he even told them, but he’s not going to. This whole thing is crazy.

Yukhei leans forward over the tiled edge of the bathtub, grabbing one of Hendery's hands. Dejun watches as Yukhei turns it over, spreads his fingers, and it looks like a normal, human hand. A bit small compared to Yukhei's, but totally average. But Yukhei looks up at Hendery with inquisitive eyes anyway. "What else can your hands do?"

"What else can my hands do?" Hendery repeats, and whereas Yukhei sounded innocent, Dejun doesn’t really think Hendery still sounds like that. Especially not after that whole salad thing. “Well,” he continues, “I’m really good at weaving cloth…”

“So it’s true then, what we know?” Yukhei continues to be oblivious, but Hendery catches Dejun’s eye and Dejun sees the small, almost imperceptible smile around Hendery’s lips.

Hendery hums. “But my hands can do many things... Things you humans have never even experienced before.” He’s taken over, flipped Yukhei's palm and playing with his long fingers now. Dejun has no idea if he’s still telling the truth, but he’s surprised to find himself actually not opposed to finding out.

Yukhei stumbles over his next words, maybe catching on a bit. "Oh, wow... Huh. Cool." He takes hold of Hendery's hand again, bringing it close to his face. "It really looks like a normal hand, though. That's so fascinating... Hey, do your fingertips get wrinkly when you swim in the sea for so long?"

Even with the AC on, although not at full blast because it’s too loud and Dejun doesn’t like the sound, it remains hot. It remains hot, especially if you’re wearing thick, full length denim pants. Yukhei tries to pull the material away from the inside of his thighs, groaning. “Oh man, I’m still sweating like crazy.”

“I’ve got some clothes that you can wear!” Dejun says before really thinking, but the way Yukhei's face lights up makes it impossible for him to retract his words.

“Oh, really? That would be great!”

“They—they might not fit, though…” Does he even have any clothes Yukhei could wear? Dejun looks at Yukhei's wide shoulders and his long legs. He could take a look in his dad’s closet, but that might be a little awkward. And it’d still be too short. “Maybe you should come upstairs with me real quick, so we can see what fits.”

They get off the tiled steps, and Dejun turns to the merman, who’s been _entirely naked_ this whole time, what the hell. “Um, Hendery… I don’t know if you want any clothes, too, but. Well, if you want, I can get you some?”

“Oh, no, that’s okay.” Hendery waves him off with a grin. “They would just get wet. Although—” he says after a short pause, “—maybe some seashells?”

He covers his nippels with his fingers and giggles, and Dejun stares at him. “You mean mermaids actually do that? That actually works, it’s not just some stupid censorship thing?”

“Huh, I don’t know… I just thought humans would like that.” Hendery shrugs. “You don’t?”

“Uh… I don’t think there’s much need for modesty... Not anymore, I guess, we’ve already seen everything.”

“It would look funny, though,” Yukhei adds. He turns to Dejun. “Uh—do you have any shell bras?”

“I don’t think so…” Dejun is not sure why Yukhei would be expecting him to have anything like that. “But I’ll take a good look inside my old closet, I guess.”

Dejun’s childhood bedroom is up the stairs, down the hall, behind the second door on the right. “Wow,” Yukhei says as he follows Dejun, looking around. “It’s been so long since I last was here.”

“It changed a lot, right.” Even Dejun barely recognizes it anymore. The posters of cartoon animals he used to have are gone, the bedsheets are a plain beige now. He never decorated it like he did with his dorm rooms. 

“It did. Hey, do you still have that really big football bean bag?”

“No, I don’t!” Dejun whines, turning to Yukhei with what he knows is a childish pout, but just the mention of his pillow makes all the memories return. “I came back from school one time and it was gone! My mother threw it out! She said it was broken but it was definitely fine before I left!”

“Oh, damn.” Yukhei looks dejected, making Dejun feel less bad about his irrational anger. “I really liked that thing.”

“Yeah, me too…” There’s not much to do about it now, though, it’s already gone. And it probably wasn’t really as big and comfortable as it is in their memories anyway. Dejun kneels on the ground and flips his suitcase open to look for some clothes. “Let’s see, uh… I’ve got these basketball shorts?” They’re his pyjamas, but he hasn’t worn them yet as it’s way too hot. The elastic is pretty forgiving, though, and Yukhei's hips look quite narrow, so they should probably fit.

He turns around to hand them to Yukhei, and is shocked to see Yukhei in the middle of stripping his jeans off. Yukhei looks up at him, and seems to freeze, too. Dejun sees his eyes going wide, before he manages to tear his gaze away from the sight in front of him. Yukhei is just standing there, completely naked save for his boxer briefs, and the dungarees around his knees, so close to Dejun in Dejun’s own childhood bedroom, and it’s bad for Dejun’s heart rate.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry! I forgot that you're—like—" Yukhei laughs awkwardly and gestures between them, and now it’s just becoming uncomfortable.

“Oh, jesus, no—” Dejun frowns at Yukhei. “What—what the hell do you mean with that?” Was he expecting Dejun to jump him or something? He was just caught off guard, is all.

Yukhei shrugs, giggling throatily. “Dude, I don’t—I don’t know?” He’s still standing there, in his lilac boxer briefs, the skin stretching over his abs still gleaming with remnants of sweat and sunscreen, and he starts kicking his pants off his ankles. “You’re cool with this, then?”

“I mean, uh, yeah, why wouldn’t I?” Now Dejun really doesn’t know what’s going on anymore.

“Yeah, that’s right, I guess.” Yukhei laughs. “Come on, give me the shorts. Let me see if they fit.”

They fit, unsurprisingly, although they do show a lot more of Yukhei's bare thigh than they do on Dejun. Yukhei checks himself out in the mirror, pulling the shorts down much further than they really need to go, defined Adonis belt almost entirely visible. “Looks good, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” Dejun swallows. “It suits you very well.” They’re just basketball shorts, but of course being tall and slim, you can make everything look like high fashion.

Yukhei adjusts the waistband to a more regular height, and starts fixing his hair. Dejun peers over Yukhei's shoulder at his own reflection, too. He might not be Yukhei, but he still looks good, thankfully. His skin is a bit more oily, and his hair looks a little funny, but the heat hasn’t completely messed him up.

He reaches up to pat down his bangs, and then notices Yukhei looking at him through the mirror. Yukhei grins at him, eyes going to Dejun’s arm. “You’ve been working out too, right? You got kinda buff.”

“ _Buff_.” Dejun snorts. He can’t understand how Yukhei can say that with a straight face when his own bare body is right next to Dejun’s. “I still have a long way to go…”

“But it looks good, though! I noticed it earlier, too, you look good.”

“Oh, thank you…” Dejun sees his own bashful smile through the mirror. It’s stupid how pleased just one compliment from Yukhei makes him.

“Well, come on, we gotta go back to Hendery.” Not bothering with any shirt, which is not a problem at all, Yukhei heads to the hallway. “Don’t want him to get the bathroom all wet or something.”

“It’s a bathroom, it’s supposed to get wet?” Dejun says, puzzled, but Yukhei is already halfway down the stairs.

Yukhei stalks into the bathroom in big strides, his hands on his waist like he’s on a runway. “So, how do I look?”

“Daamn booy!” Hendery says excitedly, his voice exaggerated and high. “So handsome!” Dejun already knows Hendery would not have the same kind of reaction if if was Dejun wearing the shorts. But then again, he’d be a hypocrite to get mad about it. It's Yukhei.

Hendery flips over to face them, his tail barely fitting and water splashing over the edge, and Yukhei runs up to him, trying to stop it from cascading down the steps. "Dude, Hendery, stop moving so much!"

"Sory, sorry!"

"It's just water, it's fine," Dejun says, but seeing Hendery desperately pulling his fins back in the tub and trying to keep his tail contained, just doesn't look right. "Hendery... You can't stay here."

"No, I know! It wasn't even my intention to be here in the first place, I'm so sorry for imposing on you! Like, I absolutely understand if you want me out—"

"That's—that's not what I meant!" Hendery has turned so serious so quickly, genuinely looking troubled, and this was not what Dejun meant at all. "It's just, like—you don't belong here… You should be in open water, in the sea, not stuck in a too-small bathtub where you have nothing…"

"Yeah, he's right." Yukhei sits down where the steps are still dry, looking at the way Hendery's arms are curled around his bent tail. "This is no place for a merman…"

Hendery exhales, his brow furrowed. "I know. I—I really made a bad mistake… Genuinely, I thought I was dead, or—I don't know… I messed up really badly. I'm, I was really lucky to meet you guys." He's not looking at them anymore, and Dejun’s heart hurts for him. He has no idea what kind of fate merfolk usually suffer when they are found by people, he’s never heard of anything like this before, but with the way Hendery is talking about it, it can’t be anything good.

"But the next full moon is still four weeks from now… You can't stay here." His parents will be back, there's no way he can hide a full sized merman anywhere. And he doesn't want to think of the kind of effect keeping him locked up might have on Hendery's health.

When Yukhei speaks up, his voice is full of determination. "We'll take you to the sea."

Dejun blinks at him. Of course, taking Hendery to the sea is, in short, what they need to do, but literally how are they going to logistically arrange that. They can’t exactly take the bus, not together with this whole half-fish man, who needs to stay wet at that. “How, though? Did you want to wrap him in a trenchcoat and convince the busdriver he’s human?”

Yukhei looks at him like he’s stupid. “Of course not! We’re gonna drive him?”

Maybe Dejun is an idiot, but that still doesn’t make any sense. “Yeah but how? You wanna break down the bathroom so we can somehow free the tub and put that in the back of my mom’s Cayenne? Because that’s not gonna fit.”

“ _Not the Porsche_!” Yukhei hisses. “We’re taking my car, are you crazy!”

“Yeah but _how_!?”

“Guys, guys, it’s okay,” Hendery chimes in. “It’s fine, I’ll—I’ll arrange something, I’ll figure it out. You don’t have to go out of your way to help me.”

“It’s really no problem at all! Don’t worry, we’ll help you,” Yukhei insists, and Dejun wishes he could say the same. He just can’t figure out how.

“No, seriously, I’ll figure something out! It’s not like I need the water to breathe or anything, just to stay hydrated, I’m like a dolphin, I can go without it for a while. I’ll find a river or something.”

“Oh!” Yukhei exclaims, a tentative smile appearing on his face. “Maybe I know! You know how they take care of beached dolphins or whales? We can just wrap you in wet cloth! That would work, right?”

That actually sounds like a really good idea. Maybe the only feasible option, even. Perhaps Dejun really is an idiot for not being able to come up with it, but damn, that’s such a good idea. Hendery’s face brightens up, too, and he tells them that would definitely extend the time he can spend out of the water. “But really, just drop me off at a river. You don’t need to go all the way to the beach.”

“The beach isn’t even far away,” Yukhei says, reaching for his pockets and finding out there are none in Dejun’s basketball shorts. “Oh, I don’t have my phone here… Dejun, can you open Maps? I know some pretty secluded beaches. We’d have to go at night, really early in the morning would be best, I think…”

They make plans to take Hendery back to the sea, Dejun and Yukhei doing the discussing and Hendery repeating that they really don’t need to do that much for him. They assure him that it’s not too much, Yukhei laughing and saying his car has been through way worse than just some water on the backseat.

It’s comforting, having a concrete idea of how to take Hendery back. It might not be entirely foolproof, and they will have to find that out tonight, but at least now Dejun doesn’t have to worry about hiding a mermaid in his parents’ house anymore, and he can relax a bit.

Dejun wants to make a real, substantial meal for his guests, but even though Yukhei's stomach rumbled so loudly both Dejun and Hendery were able to hear it, he is still the one who protests adamantly.

“Dude, no!” he says, grabbing Dejun’s tank top even though Dejun wasn’t even leaving yet. Yukhei gestures at Hendery in the tub. “We can’t come with you. He can’t.”

“He doesn’t have to?” Yukhei didn’t make a problem of that earlier.

“No, just. Don’t leave us alone in this bathroom! I really don’t want to mess anything up…”

Dejun looks around him. Hendery hasn’t splashed any water over the edge again, but that wasn’t even a problem. Definitely nothing the cleaning lady can’t fix. He doesn’t know what kind of irreversible damage Yukhei thinks he might be doing if he stays here without Dejun’s supervision. But if Yukhei doesn’t want him to go and cook food, he can stay here.

He remembers what he and Hendery talked about earlier, and what Hendery told him. Hendery knows about human food, but there’s so much he hasn’t experienced yet. It’s hard to get things delivered to “the sea”, he told him, and paying with shell money is usually not accepted.

Yukhei is fine with getting delivery too. He watches with wide eyes as Dejun orders some of everything, so Hendery can have a taste. It will be way too much, but whatever, he can just freeze some, or give it to the neighbours for their chickens. Or give some to Yukhei to take home, it'll be fine.

He could've left out a big part, though, he finds out, because Hendery takes one bite of rice and just. Lets it fall out of his mouth, back into his bowl, his face frozen in an uneasy expression. "I’m sorry to human food," he says stiffly after scraping the remaining grains of rice off his tongue, “but this is not what I want to eat.”

“Oh my god,” Yukhei splutters.

“You—you don’t like _rice_? Are you sure you can eat human food?”

“Yeah, I’m sure! Just give me some of these noodles.” Hendery reaches for the beef chow fun, but Yukhei slides it out of his reach.

“This is also made of rice,” he says through a mouthful of food. “If you’re going to spit it out again, I think I’d rather have it, if you don’t mind…”

Dejun goes through the boxes he spread out on the floor. “Um, maybe… Try some of the shredded potato. And this is char siu, do you know what pork is? Uh… do you know what a pig is…”

“I’m not stupid!” Hendery laughs. “I know what a pig is. I’ve had human food before! I just didn’t know rice would feel like that…”

“Oh, well… Have some of this, then. And this is just seafood soup, that should be familiar...” The whole ocean is essentially seafood soup. Dejun’s eyes fall on the little box of nigiri he ordered because he thought Hendery might like the raw fish. “Uh, Yukhei, wanna share this sushi with me?”

About halfway through, Dejun realises he’s being a terrible host and hasn’t even offered his guests anything to drink. Water, again, seems a bit meagre, but he doesn’t really have much in the fridge.

He does, however, have a whole cellar filled with wine at his disposal.

“We can have a wine from the wine cellar?” Yukhei’s eyes start to sparkle when Dejun mentions it. “For real? Oh my god, I’ve always wanted that!”

“I got permission.” Dejun grins back at him. He knows his wines he shouldn’t touch, everything else is free game.

“Wow,” Yukhei marvels when they step down the stairs into the small room, the lights automatically flicking on. It’s just a basic wine cellar, as far as Dejun knows, but he’s always thought it looked nice, too. There are big jars with rice wine, there’s baijiu, but mostly it’s dark green bottles of red from all over the world, filling the cabinets that line the walls.

He lets Yukhei look around for a bit, taking close-up looks at the shelves as if every foil capsule is unique and special. Dejun kind of hopes he hurries up, though, eleven degrees is a bit chilly on his bare arms and legs.

Yukhei turns back to him with a smile. “Hey,” he says quietly, taking a step closer. “Do you remember when we played hide and seek, and you hid here, but I was too scared to enter?”

Dejun does remember that. “I waited so long for you! You never came! I didn’t know if we were still playing or not, but I didn’t want to lose…” He’s not sure why they’re half whispering, or why Yukhei is so close to him. Maybe Yukhei is cold too.

“I’m sorry.” Yukhei’s chuckle is muted, and even lower than normal. “But I’m here now.”

Dejun wonders if Yukhei even knows what kind of things he’s saying. If he’s the only one who feels this weird, charged energy between them, or if Yukhei feels it, too. He tells himself he’s delusional, and tries to divert his attention to other things.

Yukhei is still without a shirt, and his nipples are hard and pointy now. And, okay, Yukhei just noticed Dejun looking at his chest. He laughs, looking down as well. “Maybe I should’ve worn more clothes… At least I’m not hot anymore, though.”

“You’re still hot,” Dejun blurts out, and immediately regrets it because it was fun and had little consequences earlier, but now it feels very different.

It gets even worse when Yukhei doesn’t break out in a wide, pleased grin, but instead gazes at him with a small, earnest smile. "Do you really think I'm hot?" he whispers.

"Uh—" Everything is suddenly so very real now, they're completely alone and Yukhei is standing so close to him and there’s no Hendery here to embolden him. Dejun regrets how he acted earlier, now, worried he might’ve made things uncomfortable. This must not have been what Yukhei was expecting to happen, seeing his childhood friend again. "Sorry if I made things weird..."

"I don't think it's weird," Yukhei tells him, and of course he wouldn’t, it would be weirder if someone didn’t think he was hot. But he’s still smiling like that, and Dejun has to tilt his head back a little because he’s so tall and everything is so much. Dejun’s skin is starting to feel hot, even in the cold cellar, and Yukhei continues. "You're really pretty. You were always pretty, when we were little, but—you're still, now."

Dejun's heart does something weird, and he can't breathe for a moment. And Yukhei is still looking at him like Dejun is all he sees, and Dejun needs to look away because it feels like he might combust. Like he might melt, fall apart, bare his very inner being to Yukhei.

And unfortunately, it just so happens that when he looks away from Yukhei's eyes, his eyes fall on his lips, and he sees Yukhei's smile grows a little bit. And maybe Yukhei is somehow a bit drunk, even though they haven't had any wine yet, but he takes a small step closer, and like entranced, Dejun copies him.

He knows what's going to happen, now. It's obvious. In a daze, he glances back up at Yukhei's eyes, his heart skipping several beats, and Yukhei cups his cheek, his hand warm and a little rough but so gentle, and then, they're kissing.

They're _kissing_. Dejun is kissing Yukhei. No, _Yukhei_ kissed _him_. He can't believe it. Dejun's hands automatically reach for Yukhei's waist, holding them tentatively, and Yukhei has both his hands on Dejun's face now, his mouth leaving slow, soft kisses on Dejun's lips that Dejun can only reciprocate. It's chaste, and it's innocent, but it's a kiss on the lips and Dejun really doesn’t think he’s misunderstanding.

Dejun angles his head, getting a little closer and opening his mouth a little more. He feels like he's floating, like he would float away if Yukhei's strong arms weren't around him, if he didn’t have Yukhei’s broad back to hold on to, lightheaded because he probably hasn't been breathing but he has more important things to do. He feels Yukhei's tongue touching his own and it takes away any last doubt inside Dejun's mind, there's absolutely nothing platonic about this.

Too soon, Yukhei starts drawing away, placing one last lingering peck on Dejun's mouth. Dejun is not confident enough to go back in, already feeling like he's used up all of his good luck for at least the next ten years. He blinks his eyes open and looks at Yukhei, and it feels like they're still stuck in whatever moment they got caught up in. Dejun's cheeks are burning under Yukhei's palms, goosebumps down the back of his neck, he’s still so close he can feel the heat radiating from Yukhei’s chest.

Yukhei giggles, quietly, more like a sigh than an actual laugh. "Oh," he whispers, and Dejun thinks he is blushing, too. "Um."

That makes it sound like it was an accident, a mistake. Dejun starts to worry, his hands slowly dropping. That makes it sound like Yukhei might regret it. If it wasn't going to be weird before, it will definitely be now. Why did he even kiss Yukhei back, he could’ve known it was a bad idea. "Uh, let's—let's pick a wine," he tries to backtrack.

"Yeah," Yukhei says, but he's still got one hand around Dejun's face, thumbing over his cheekbone, and it makes Dejun so badly want to kiss him again. He doesn't, though, he really can't, he needs to have Yukhei take the initiative.

But Yukhei steps away, his hand falling down, leaving Dejun's cheek feeling uncomfortably bare in the cold, moist air. "Uh, I don't know which wines are good... I kind of... I always just buy whatever they have special offers on in the supermarket?" His laugh is back to normal now, his voice no longer low and private. “I don’t really drink that much, actually.”

Dejun doesn't really know that much about wine, either. Not nearly as much as his parents, but he knows what he likes, and he knows how to read labels. He thinks Yukhei might want to pretend the past five minutes didn’t happen, so Dejun tries to do the same, pulling out some bottles and ignoring how he now knows how Yukhei’s lips feel, how he probably can’t ever forget the way Yukhei looked at him.

With a light and fruity pinot noir, because Yukhei thought the label looked cool, they step back into the bright hallway. Dejun keeps telling himself that things are not awkward and stilted between them, but it’s hard to believe when Yukhei turns to him with a grin that’s definitely awkward.

“Um, I’ll just go to the toilet real quick, you can go on,” he says, and Dejun nods and tells him that’s fine, because what else is he going to tell him. But Yukhei lingers in the hallway and giggles. “Uh… where…?”

Dejun laughs now, too. He guides Yukhei to a toilet, and makes his way back to the bathroom with Hendery.

Hendery hasn’t told him about any telepathic abilities, and Dejun is sure he’s just made it up himself. Despite that, it still feels like Hendery knows exactly what they’ve been up to, when he looks up from the bowl of soup he was sipping from, and they lock eyes. “Wow, are human legs really that slow?” he asks.

“Huh?”

“You took so long?”

“Oh…” Dejun laughs in a way he hopes sounds normal. “Uh, big house… So you like the seafood soup?”

“Yeah, this is so good! I can have it all, right?”

“Yeah, of course! We can always just get more, but you—well, you can’t…” Dejun lowers himself onto the steps, setting down the bottle of wine. “If you want, I can—” he pauses. If tupperware is airtight, it would be watertight too, right? “Whatever’s leftover, I can put it in a container for you, so you can take it with you…”

“Nah, it’s fine, don’t bother. I think I can finish it all now.” Hendery grins at him. “Is this the wine?” He takes the bottle and twists it around, appreciating the label as well. The naked, red-haired woman is quite eye catching.

“It is, do you want to try it too?” As Dejun says it, he realises he didn’t bring any glasses. “Oh hang on, I’ll be right back.”

Hendery takes a few sips of his wine and his entire face flushes red, and Dejun decides he probably shouldn’t have any more. He tries to subtly slide Hendery’s glass away from him, but Yukhei catches him and laughs not so subtly.

He must not have been kidding about not drinking much, because after only half a glass he’s getting even more giggly than usual. Dejun is going to end up with a drunk merman and a drunk Yukhei on his hands, and he’s not prepared for that. He should have thought this choice through.

He really should’ve thought it through. Yukhei leans his face on his hand, and watches Hendery with a smile, and asks, “Hendery, have you ever kissed someone?”

Dejun barely manages to set his glass down, turning to Yukhei wide-eyed.

“Not a human,” is Hendery’s open-ended answer, his big eyes blinking up at Yukhei. Dejun is fully expecting Yukhei to tell Hendery that they can kiss, and Dejun is only feeling a little jealous, he can share. But that’s not even it.

Instead, Yukhei turns around to Dejun, and says: “Then you two can kiss.”

Dejun flounders about, looking from Yukhei to Hendery and back. “You—you didn’t even ask if he wants to? If _I_ want to?”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Hendery says, grinning cheerfully at Dejun. “I want to kiss a human. I mean, unless if you don’t want to…”

“Uh—” Dejun glances at Yukhei again, and back to Hendery whose smile is disappearing. “It’s not that I don’t _want_ to, but it’s just, out of nowhere…”

“Don’t you want to kiss a merman? This might be your only chance, bro!” Yukhei adds, and Dejun thinks he sounds more eager than he really should. Eager to see Dejun and Hendery kiss…

He looks back at Hendery, who's grinning and nodding at him now. “Yeah, okay, I guess.” Dejun scoots closer over the tiles so he’s within reach of the hand Hendery lifts from the water, but when he feels it touch his jaw, he recoils. “You’re cold!”

“Of course! I’m poikilotherm!” Seeing Dejun’s confused frown, he adds, “Cold-blooded. Did you forget you filled this tub with cold water?”

“Oh my god I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think about that!”

“No, it’s fine, that’s the whole point! I don’t need to stay warm like you do.” He puts his cold palm on Dejun’s neck, making him shudder, and giggles.

“But, like, are you gonna kiss or not?” Yukhei is definitely way too eager, and Dejun has to admit that he kind of likes it. And Hendery does, too, judging by the knowing look he sends Dejun, the little smile around his lips.

His fingers move up to Dejun’s jaw again, pulling him forward and Dejun closes the gap, meeting Hendery in a much more assured kiss as the one he shared with Yukhei earlier. He reaches for Hendery’s cheek, angles his head and lets Hendery lick into his mouth, and lowers his hand to give Yukhei a better view. Because that was what he asked for, wasn’t it.

Hendery is now indirectly kissing Yukhei too, Dejun realises. He wonders if Hendery is aware.

When Dejun was fifteen, he thought threeway kissing was a thing. Someone told him they had done it at a party, and Dejun believed them, thought that was a thing people did. Wanted to do it himself, too.

Now, he thinks kissing two people separately like this is much better. Allows him to focus completely on the way Hendery's lips fit against his own, soft and cool but slowly warming up to Dejun's touch. He tastes like the bitter edge of the wine and slightly like shrimp, and he's not shying away from deepening the kiss at all.

Dejun remains hyper-aware of their audience, the fact that Yukhei is sitting next to them and watching them, seeing everything making his skin prickle and spurring him on. He's sure Hendery has not forgotten, either. Dejun hopes Yukhei is enjoying the show.

They part when Dejun is getting out of breath, Hendery not appearing to have the same problem. Dejun doesn't mean to, he wanted to be more subtle, but still the first thing he does is turn to his side and check on Yukhei.

A shiver crawls up his spine, warmth pooling in his stomach and his cheeks heating up again when he finds Yukhei still staring right at them, lips a little parted and eyes dazed. He seems to shake himself out of it and chuckles. "Oh, wow, um. I wasn't expecting you to really go for it like that!"

Hendery feigns innocence again, and how Yukhei still doesn’t seem to realise, is beyond Dejun. “Why, was that not good? Was that not how humans kiss?"

"Oh, no, uh—" Yukhei splutters, and turns to Dejun. "Dejun, was he good? I mean, um—was that a good kiss? I mean like, was that how humans kiss?"

"It—it was alright, I guess? Good?" Dejun's brain has been working in overdrive today, but it's coming up with some pretty good stuff, still. Like right now. "Maybe, maybe you should try, too, so you can see for yourself?"

Yukhei laughs loudly, flustered, and Dejun kind of enjoys it. "I believe you. It looked good. Like, I mean, uh… Hah..." He grabs his wine glass and downs the remaining half in one go, coughing when he’s done, his face getting even more red. “Damn, this wine is strong…”

The sun sets, but they can’t tell from inside the bathroom. They only realise what time it is when Yukhei starts yawning, and Dejun checks his phone.

“Oh, fuck, I gotta head home!” Yukhei says. “I never told anyone I was gonna stay away all day. Dejun, can I go get my phone from upstairs?”

Dejun doesn’t know why Yukhei would need permission to go get his own phone. “Yeah, of course,” he tells him, and Yukhei leaves the bathroom and runs up the stairs.

Hendery makes a little noise. “Um. I guess, uh, I’ll go back to the pond again? At least, if you think Yukhei’d be willing to carry me before he leaves... I mean, it’s fine if he doesn’t want to, if you don’t wanna bother, I could crawl there too, I think—”

“Are you crazy? We’re not gonna let you crawl anywhere!” Dejun interrupts him. “We’re taking you to the sea tonight, you can just stay in this bathroom until then, that’s absolutely fine.”

“Yeah, we’ll even sleep here with you!” Yukhei says when he walks through the door, still pulling down his t-shirt. “Or, like, Dejun will, I’m sure!”

Dejun frowns at him because he wasn’t planning to do that, but now Yukhei has already made that decision for him. Thankfully, Hendery objects, too. “No way, that’s gotta be really uncomfortable. I know you have beds in these houses! I’m already really grateful for being allowed to stay here. For you guys having taken such good care of me…”

“ _We’re_ the ones who should be grateful! For you to grace us with our presence… Seriously, a _merman_... But, um, I gotta go home…” Yukhei gestures with his phone. “I’ll be here tonight, yeah?”

Dejun sees him out, and heads back to the bathroom. Hendery starts apologising again when Dejun begins to tidy up. “I swear I would help if I could,” he says, “but I think I would only make it worse.”

“I think it would help if you would just accept our help.” Sure, Dejun wouldn’t have to walk up and down to the kitchen twice if Hendery had a set of permanent legs, but it’s really not that much work.

When he’s done he sinks down on the tiled steps again, pouring another glass of wine for himself and sitting back.

“It’s quiet now,” Hendery remarks.

“Sorry.” Dejun can put in effort and be a good conversation partner, but he can’t keep it up the whole day.

“It’s fine.” Hendery smiles at him, and stretches his arms above his head, yawning too. He flips to his side and makes himself comfortable. “Yukhei is nice.”

“Nice?” Hendery’s choice of words makes Dejun laugh.

“Is he not nice? I thought he was?”

“I think he’s more than just nice.”

“I didn’t say he wasn’t.” Hendery starts grinning too. “I wish he’d asked me if I’ve ever sucked a dick,” he continues, and Dejun chokes on his wine.

At four in the morning, the alarm Dejun set goes off. Yukhei calls not long after, when Dejun is already in the bathroom, helping Hendery wrap his tail in wet towels. "I'm leaving now," he tells them. "I also found some big water bottles. Do you still need anything?"

"I think we can manage." Dejun looks down at Hendery, the bathtub already drained. A big, navy blue beach towel is wrapped around his waist, reaching halfway down his long tail, the wet terry cloth clinging to his shimmery scales. "You'll have to carry him, though."

The back seat of Yukhei's car is covered with cut open garbage bags, and Yukhei carefully manoeuvres Hendery on top of it, Dejun holding the door open for them. "It's fine now, I can do the rest myself," Hendery says when he's seated, and he flicks his tail inside. Yukhei and Dejun make sure he's sufficiently covered in wet towels, and that none of his finny bits are at risk of being trapped between the door, squinting in the limited dome light of the car and the glow of the nearly full moon above them, and finally close the door.

Dejun takes the passenger seat next to Yukhei. He feels nerves buzzing in his body, something like excitement over doing something so secretively. Something that might even be illegal, and they can’t let anyone see them. But beside anticipation, there's also something like sadness. They're going to send Hendery off, and probably never see him again. Even though it's only been one day, he feels like they’ve gotten close. He feels like he has a natural affinity with him.

Yukhei leaves the driveway and Dejun turns around in his seat, looking at Hendery's shape in the dark. He can't wear a seatbelt like this, but Yukhei promised to drive really carefully. They have to make sure the towels won't slip and fall off, too "Are you alright?"

A hand touches the one Dejun has curled around the backrest, cold fingers nudging the backs of his own, and then turning to hold on to them. "I'm fine," Hendery laughs. "I can go without water for a while, I won't, like, instantly shrivel up and die. Honestly, I could've probably done the car ride dry. It wasn’t very far to the sea, right?"

It's not, but Dejun isn't sure how much he should trust Hendery, who’s made it very clear that he thought he was overstaying his welcome. Dejun is not going to risk anything.

"I'm not gonna let you dry out even the slightest bit," Yukhei says, sharing Dejun’s sentiment. He’s not looking away from the dark road, navigating his way out of the suburbs. A hiphop song is quietly playing on the radio, his phone with the route is in the holder.

Dejun wonders if Hendery also thinks Yukhei looks very attractive while driving. He probably does.

The sky is already getting brighter by the time Yukhei parks along the side of the road. The place looks as secluded as Yukhei said, just a road that gives access to the beach, a few unmarked parking spaces, nothing else. Yukhei also pointed out the walkway is very short, so they won’t have to carry Hendery too far. Even so, Dejun takes a good look at the beach in front of them, making sure there’s really no one around.

There's muted pink along the horizon, the sunrise approaching now. Dejun holds the end of Hendery's tail up as Yukhei gets him from the car, making sure it doesn't get coated in dry sand. Maybe it wouldn't matter, Hendery didn't say anything about it, but Dejun can't imagine it's comfortable. They need to hurry, the beach is still empty now, but who knows for how long, and the weird feeling in Dejun's stomach builds up.

The sand is loose and heavy around Dejun’s feet as they carry Hendery down the slight slope. It makes its way inside Dejun’s boat shoes, the grains filling up the space around his heels and slowing down his pace. He tries to help Yukhei as much as he can, even leaves his shoes halfway, but they both groan in relief when Hendery tells them to let him down, the next wave crashing over his tail and their legs.

Hendery lets the wave drag him out a bit further, and Dejun and Yukhei follow him, wading in the shallow, lukewarm water, until the hems of their shorts are wet. Dejun's, at least, Yukhei still has some spare leg left. He's still wearing Dejun's shorts, Dejun notices now. He wonders if Yukhei even slept at all.

The merman is still in front of them, turned towards them. Dejun guesses this is the moment to say goodbye, but he’s not sure how to do it. He looks at the faint shape of Hendery’s tail under the dark, the reflection of the moon scattered around him. “If… next month,” he starts, “with the full moon, you—you're welcome to come back.”

It's still summer, he's still free from classes for another while. He can spend some more days at his parents' place. He'll figure something out so they won't find out, he's got a month to think about it. If Hendery even wants it, of course. "I'll unlock the door for you, you won't need to pick it again.”

“You can always come to my place, too,” Yukhei adds. “I’d really like to see you again.”

“Oh, and... I don't know if you can get there, but, uh... My address in the city…” Dejun would write it down on a piece of paper, but that won't be of any use in the sea.

Hendery looks up at him, big eyes sparkling in the moonlight. "Just tell me. I'll remember it."

Dejun hopes Hendery will. "You're always welcome. I—I could even come pick you up, I can borrow my friend's car. Um. Or Yukhei, maybe..." Dejun turns to look at Yukhei, who's waded a bit closer to Hendery, the waves lapping softly at his thighs.

"Yeah, of course," he says, hands skimming the surface of the water, reaching out to brush some of Hendery’s hair off his forehead. "You can't forget, okay!"

Hendery smiles at him. “I won’t, I promise.”

“Oh, and, uh…” Yukhei starts hesitantly, a nervous grin on his face. “Can I ask you something?” When Hendery nods, he continues. “Can… can I kiss you too? A kiss from a merman…”

Dejun sees the surprise on Hendery's face, then making way for glee. “Of course you can.”

“Nice,” Yukhei says, and he drops down on his knees in the sea, until he is at eye level with Hendery.

Maybe Yukhei felt this way too, when he watched Dejun and Hendery kiss, Dejun thinks as he watches the scene in front of him. He feels excitement, watching Yukhei hold Hendery’s face gently and lean in for a kiss. A giddy feeling in his stomach, buzzing through his body, almost like it’s himself who’s kissing, but still being able to focus on both of them.

Yukhei kisses him so tenderly, his fingers still in Hendery’s hair when he pulls back. He whispers something Dejun can’t hear above the rushing of the waves, but just when Dejun feels like maybe he should take a few steps backward, Yukhei turns to him with a grin. “You were right, he’s a good kisser.”

They say their goodbyes to Hendery when the first rays of sunlight appear above the hills behind them. It feels like a final goodbye, despite Hendery’s promise of coming to meet them again. But seeing Hendery in the ocean, where he should be, Dejun thinks he can be at peace with that.

It’s when they get back to Yukhei’s car, that Yukhei seems to realise he got himself completely wet. It doesn’t seem to bother him though, he just takes his shirt off again, and moves some of the plastic bags to the front seat.

They sit in the parked car for a while, staring at the deep blue sea in front of them. Dejun thinks he sees some water splash up in the distance, a gleam of silvergreen, but it might just be his imagination.

“Wow…” Yukhei says after some time, his voice distant. “I can’t believe we met a merman…”

Dejun can’t really believe it either. Even though it was definitely very real. The damp towels are still there, rumpled on the floor of Yukhei's car.

Yukhei gasps suddenly. “Oh, dude, we should’ve taken a picture!”

“Are you… Are you gonna tell anyone?” Not that anyone would believe them, or the credibility of a picture, but it doesn’t feel like it’s something they should share. It’s not just their secret.

“No.” Yukhei turns to him with a small smile. “I want him for myself. For ourselves.”

Dejun laughs, and turns back to the sea. Hendery must be out in the deep, open waters already, but maybe he’s turned around, looking at their direction right now as well. Thinking about them. “Do you think he’ll come back?”

“I hope so.”

It’s quiet while they drive back, the radio still playing softly, until Yukhei speaks up, saying something Dejun wasn't expecting. "I didn't know I was gay."

"What?" Dejun is momentarily too stunned to come up with anything else,

"I didn't know I liked kissing guys," Yukhei clarifies, and Dejun thinks if he should tell him that doesn't necessarily make him gay, or tell him that that's totally okay, obviously Dejun would accept him, or tell him he doesn't need to use any label, but the words won't come out.

What he says instead, is: "You liked kissing us?"

He glances at Yukhei, and sees him start to smile. It’s nothing weird, nothing like he’s joking, just a genuine smile. “I did.”

There’s really no point in hiding anything, anymore. “I liked it too.”

Yukhei is still Yukhei, though. “Obviously,” he says. “Because you are gay?”

“That doesn't mean I like kissing just every guy! And I’m bisexual, actually.” He had a crush on Kristen Stewart once.

Yukhei laughs. “Maybe I am, too…”

“You might be...”

It’s quiet for a while again, but it’s not an uncomfortable silence. There’s no rush, no pressure.

Yukhei is the first one to speak up again. “Hey, wanna get some coffee somewhere?”

Dejun doesn't immediately answer, because he's not sure what Yukhei means. It sounds an awful lot like he's being asked on a date, but the question is so vague. "Like, right now?"

"Yeah?"

“It’s—” Dejun glances at the dashboard “—5:33. I’m not sure if anything is open." Definitely not out here. They've passed maybe two other cars, this entire morning.

"Oh, yeah, that's right..."

"Hey, you can come back to my parents' place! I'll make a coffee for you!”

Yukhei turns his head away from the road for a second, facing Dejun with a beaming smile. "You will? That sounds really great."

**Author's Note:**

> if you made it all the way here, wow.. well done?  
> i absolutely cannot keep things concise, so i end up with 14k of no plot at all
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/frxdmr)


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